Luton rally to take point from trip to Mansfield Town

Luton Town rallied from two goals to take a point as they drew 2-2 with Mansfield Town.

The Hatters found themselves trailing to a brace from Jon Russell after a difficult first half an hour at the One Call Stadium.

But goals from Kasey Palmer and then Shayden Morris saw Jack Wilshere’s side rebound to take a share of the points.

The draw means Luton now sit 8th in the table, with the Bedfordshire club 3 points behind Stevenage in the final play-off position ahead of the final 3 matches of their season.

Luton went to Nottinghamshire off the back of a busy week that included beating Stockport in the EFL Trophy final and coming from behind to beat Northampton in a result that sent the Cobblers down.

But a Mansfield side who’d lost just 1 of their last 10 matches started faster. Josh Keeley made a good save to deny Will Evans before midweek matchwinner Kal Naismith blocked Ryan Sweeney’s effort on the line.

Mansfield opened the scoring after 21 minutes, as Russell turned in the rebound after Tyler Roberts hit the crossbar.

Seven minutes later, Russell had his second and extended the Stags’ advantage. The midfielder on loan from Barnsley collected a pass from Louis Reed before curling a fine strike that flew beyond Keeley.

As the first half wore on, Luton managed to offer more. They came close when Morris was denied by home keeper Liam Roberts, but Luton would halve the deficit in the final stages of the first half. Emilio Lawrence picked out Palmer, and the Hull loanee duly fired into the back of the net.

An equaliser very nearly fell Luton’s way in the final stages of the first half, with Roberts having to make a brilliant save to thwart Davy van den Berg. The Mansfield keeper would also deny Morris in the final stages of the half.

Luton would then find their equaliser in the opening five minutes of the second half. Morris was played through by Palmer, and he duly dispatched a low shot that beat Roberts to bring the visitors back on level terms.

The comeback was nearly fully completed a few moments later, as Naismith hit the post from close range.

Mansfield keeper Roberts was kept as the busier goalkeeper, with the home keeper denying Palmer twice, while Hakeem Odoffin also struck the crossbar.

As it was, there were no further goals for Luton and the visitors would have to be complete with coming back to take the point on their visit to Mansfield.

Luton next play on Tuesday night when they visit the already relegated Rotherham United, before they welcome Barnsley to Kenilworth Road in their last home game of the season.